Written Answers Monday 1 February 2010

Scottish Executive

Alcohol

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30406 by Shona Robison on 19 January 2010, whether the figures on alcohol consumption in other countries quoted in its news release of 21 February 2010, Scotland’s drinking habit, are adjusted to reflect the alcohol abstention rate.

Shona Robison: None of the figures (for Scotland or other countries) quoted in the news release of 22 February 2009 were adjusted to reflect the alcohol abstention rate.

  Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether there is a link between caffeinated alcohol products and violence and whether it plans to commission research on this issue.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the comments of the neuroscientist, Dr Steven Alexander, from Nottingham University that each bottle of Buckfast tonic wine contains 281mg of caffeine, the same amount as in eight cans of Coke, and that consuming large amounts of caffeine would make people feel very anxious and aggressive.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the comments of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on the Good Morning Scotland programme that "There isn’t any scientific evidence at the moment that says caffeine has a correlation with violence and crime - really Buckfast, drunk usually in the west of Scotland, is part of a cocktail."

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on comparing excessive consumption of Buckfast tonic wine with having an espresso after a meal with wine.

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the remarks of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme on 18 January 2010 that "people frequently have an espresso after a good night out, a meal and a bottle of wine and they don’t suddenly go berserk, so there actually isn’t any scientific link between caffeine and criminal offending".

Shona Robison: At present there is no evidence that mixing alcohol and caffeine - whether through consumption of a ready mixed drink or by drinking an alcoholic drink followed by a caffeinated drink (such as coffee) - enhances the intoxifying effect of the alcohol or that it causes aggression. We note the recent call for evidence from manufacturers on the safety of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by US Food and Drug Agency. We will review their findings should they be published and consider whether further research is necessary.

  There is, however, a clear link between alcohol consumption and crime, in particular violent crime. That is why Scottish Government is concentrating on tackling excessive alcohol consumption, not consumption of specific brands.

Alcohol Misuse

Tricia Marwick (Central Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were treated for alcohol-related injuries or illnesses by NHS Fife in 2009.

Shona Robison: Information on the calendar year 2009 is not currently available. The most up to date information available is for financial the year 2007-08. Data on the financial year 2008-09 will be available from 23 February 2010.

  The question has two separate parts:

  1. Patients treated for Alcohol related illnesses.

  2. Patients treated for alcohol related injuries.

  1. Patients with alcohol related illnesses are treated in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. The information available centrally covers only alcohol related hospital admissions. Information on the number of patients discharged from Fife hospitals with an alcohol related diagnosis in 2007-08 is presented in table 1. These figures include only those admissions due to illnesses directly attributable to alcohol (such as alcoholic liver disease) and do not include the much larger number of admissions resulting from illnesses indirectly attributable to alcohol (such as unintentional injuries, cancers and high blood pressure).

  Table 1: General acute inpatient discharges, patients discharged with an alcohol-related diagnosis, in any position, from hospitals in Fife Health Board of treatment:

  2007-08:

  

Financial Year 
Fife 


2007-08 
1,562 



  Source: Information Services Division Scotland (ISD).

  2. Patients with alcohol related injuries are treated in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings such as accident and emergency departments. Information is not available centrally on the number of alcohol related injuries treated in outpatient and accident and emergency settings. Furthermore, it is not possible from centrally held information to establish that an individual injury was caused by alcohol.

  ISD recently carried out work to estimate the number of hospital admissions due to alcohol related injuries using alcohol attributable fractions. The results are presented here:

  http://www.scotpho.org.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=5318&sID=4562.

  The report presents figures at Scotland level only and information is not available separately at NHS board level.

Concessionary Travel

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in receipt of the lower rate of disability living allowance in (a) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency, (b) East Ayrshire and (c) South Ayrshire were admitted to the free bus travel scheme when it commenced.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

  When the Scotland-wide Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People was introduced on 1 April 2006, existing local authority concessionary cardholders transferred into the new scheme without undergoing a reassessment of their entitlement. The number of those cardholders specifically in receipt of lower rate Disability Living Allowance (DLA) at that time was not provided. Those previously in receipt of concessions on the grounds of receipt of lower rate DLA would, on expiry of their card, no longer be eligible under the Scotland-wide scheme unless they qualified under any of the other criteria.

Dentistry

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28811 by Shona Robison on 19 November 2009, whether NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has now introduced school-based dental services.

Shona Robison: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are committed to starting a school based preventive dental service from April 2010.

Diabetes

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29581 by Nicola Sturgeon on 11 December 2009, when it will publish details of each NHS board’s planned investment for the next three to five years in insulin pumps and the associated structured education.

Nicola Sturgeon: We will do so as soon as we have had a response from all NHS boards. The boards which have not yet responded are being reminded of the need to do so as a matter of urgency.

Digital Technology

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the telephone exchanges serving the Scottish Borders can provide a 2Mb broadband service to all users.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the telephone exchanges serving the Scottish Borders can provide a 2Mb broadband service to users who are three miles or more from the exchange.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of users in the Scottish Borders are served by a telephone exchange that provides a 2Mb broadband service.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to the capabilities of specific telephone exchanges in Scotland. We are advised by BT that of the 66 exchanges in the Scottish Borders, 57 deliver an "up to 8 Mbps" service and are capable of providing speeds of 2 Mbps or greater.

  We do not hold the data to quantify how many of these 57 are capable of providing  2 Mbps to either all of end-users they serve, or to those living three miles or more from their exchange. However we can confirm that a number of factors, especially distance from the exchange, can affect the broadband speed which each end-user receives.

  Finally, the Scottish Government does not hold the data to quantify what percentage of end-users in the Scottish Borders are served by these 57 exchanges.

  Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in the Scottish Borders are remote users of telephone exchanges, also expressed as a percentage.

Jim Mather: This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

  Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30411 by Jim Mather on 14 January 2010, when the remaining 92 exchanges that provide a half a megabit per second broadband service will be upgraded.

Jim Mather: With reference to the Scottish Government’s news release of 9 December 2009 about the Exchange Activate upgrade programme, I can confirm that the Scottish Government is in discussion with BT regarding the upgrade of a small number of similar exchanges. We will announce the outcome of these discussions in due course.

Education

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to ensure that all local authorities have literacy as their number one educational priority.

Michael Russell: Raising literacy standards for all is a priority for the Scottish Government, and we are working with local government to ensure young people have the literacy skills they will need for learning, life and work.

  Development of literacy skills is at the very heart of Curriculum for Excellence. For the first time every teacher will have a responsibility for the development of literacy skills, and we are ensuring that these skills are formally accredited and recognised through the introduction of the new National Literacy qualifications. All local authorities have Curriculum for Excellence implementation plans, and improving literacy features within these.

  During a parliamentary debate on 14 January 2010 on the Literacy Commission report we committed to bring forward a literacy action plan, and will be discussing its content with our partners, including local authorities, the Curriculum for Excellence Management Board and the Literacy Commission.

  Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken to ensure that local authorities include improving literacy as a key priority in their single outcome agreements.

Michael Russell: Raising literacy standards for all is a priority for the Scottish Government, and we are working with local government to ensure young people have the literacy skills they will need for learning, life and work.

  Development of literacy skills is at the very heart of Curriculum for Excellence. All local authorities are fully committed to Curriculum for Excellence, and local authorities may wish to consider whether literacy needs to be explicitly included in their individual Single Outcome Agreements.

  During a parliamentary debate on 14 January 2010 on the Literacy Commission report we committed to bring forward a literacy action plan, and will be discussing its content with our partners, including local authorities, the Curriculum for Excellence Management Board and the Literacy Commission

Enterprise

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it was first informed of the pending or actual collapse of the Globespan Group.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what role ministers took with regard to supporting the Globespan Group prior to its collapse

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what part it played in the construction of a rescue package for the Globespan Group prior to its collapse.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action ministers plan to take to support staff of the Globespan Group made redundant since its collapse.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action ministers plan to take to support customers of the Globespan Group who have had flights cancelled since its collapse.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions ministers have had with lending institutions regarding the Globespan Group in the last year.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement its officials have had with regard to support for the Globespan Group.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Scottish Enterprise regarding the Globespan Group in the last year.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has asked Scottish Enterprise to offer support on issues relating to the Globespan Group’s finances in the last year.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it had with the Globespan Group regarding its finances prior to its collapse.

Stewart Stevenson: We were not aware of the potential of the Globespan Group going into administration until the evening of 16 December 2009. Although we were aware from my meeting with the company in September 2009 that it would have to borrow more money to sustain some of its activities, our discussions did not include any request for or offer of financial support; nor were there any discussions with lending institutions regarding Globespan. No approach was made by the Group or any other party seeking our input into any rescue package.

  Contact with the Globespan Group at official level has been on air route development. Discussions with Scottish Enterprise after the company went into administration have been on approaches by airport operators seeking replacement carriers. We had no discussions with Scottish Enterprise on the Globespan Group prior to this, and therefore there was no request to Scottish Enterprise to offer support.

  While responsibility for the company and its customers now lies with the Administrator, the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) responded as soon as we were aware that the Group had gone into administration. On 22 December PACE officials prepared comprehensive information packs on support available through PACE, which included the offer of one-to-one counselling, advice on career development and opportunities, and access to high quality training for issue by the Administrator directly to Globespan employees.

Fertility Services

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28777 by Shona Robison on 19 November 2009, when the expert group examining infertility services was set up and what its membership is.

Shona Robison: The NHS boards chief executives’ group is in the process of nominating a Chair for the National Infertility Group. Final membership of the group will be agreed with the chair.

  Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28777 by Shona Robison on 19 November 2009, when the expert group examining infertility services will report.

Shona Robison: The first meeting of the National Infertility Group is expected to take place during March 2010. I will expect six monthly reports from the Group, with the first report due at the end of September 2010.

  Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28777 by Shona Robison on 19 November 2009, whether it will publish the responses from NHS boards to the Infertility Network Scotland survey on infertility services.

Shona Robison: Infertility Network Scotland has received responses from all NHS boards, and a table summary is being finalised and verified. I will arrange for the summary document to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 49114) in due course.

Football

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Premier League regarding youth football.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has been in regular contact with the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Premier League about a range of issues including youth football.

  Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent progress there has been regarding the action plan for youth football.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government and sportscotland remain closely involved in the implementation of the Youth Action Plan, meeting with key partners comprising the implementation steering group to discuss progress.

  A review of Scottish football is currently being undertaken by Henry McLeish at the invitation of the Scottish Football Association. The development of youth football is being considered as part of the first phase of this review. The Scottish Government and other stakeholders will consider the implications for the Youth Action Plan in the review’s recommendations in due course.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what revisions have been made to the proposed Forth Replacement Crossing project as a result of consultations.

Stewart Stevenson: The main features of the scheme which have been shaped and amended through consultation include:

  the inclusion of north and southbound public transport slip roads onto the A90 at South Queensferry were added to the design to give access to and from the Forth Road Bridge and the A90;

  the location of the South Queensferry Junction, which was moved further west to connect directly to the A904 at the western edge of South Queensferry;

  the elevation of South Queensferry Junction which was lowered to the same level as the existing A904 with the main carriageway passing below to reduce visual impacts;

  the elevation of the embankment which was lowered on the main carriageway to the South of South Queensferry;

  revision of the Ferrytoll Junction and realignment of the B981 from North Queensferry, and

  repositioning proposed site compound facilities at South Queensferry to the west of the southern bridge approach road.

  A summary of consultation and engagement undertaken on the project is provided in paragraphs 165 – 224 of the Policy Memorandum to the Forth Crossing Bill.

  George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimated cost is of the Forth Replacement Crossing project.

Stewart Stevenson: The Financial Memorandum to the FORTH CROSSING Bill advises that the estimated cost is between £1.7 and £2.3 billion at outturn cost in 2016.

Health

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) copies of all correspondence and notes of discussions between the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing and the UK Secretary of State for Health relating to bonus payments for hospital consultants.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government does not routinely put such letters and notes on the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) website. The letter to the Secretary of State for Health in England about a UK wide review of the award schemes for NHS consultants can be found on the Scottish Government website using the link provided.

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/01/06111437.

  There are no notes of discussions and no reply has been received at this time from the Department of Health.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29776 by Nicola Sturgeon on 22 December 2009, for what reason it can provide a substantive response to question S3W-24275 but not to S3W-29776.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-24275 by Nicola Sturgeon on 26 May 2009, how many individual cases of Clostridium difficile there have been since the outbreak at the Vale of Leven Hospital was first identified in May 2008, broken down by hospital and showing the number of fatalities.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government statisticians have reviewed the approach which was previously taken to responding to such questions, in light of national statistics protocols.

  For S3W-29776, NHS boards were approached for the data as no formal published hospital level statistics for the periods concerned were published or available. This was a time consuming and costly exercise, which involved substantial effort on the part of boards in collating the data, and moreover, the information collected was unvalidated.

  In reviewing the approach to responding to such requests, Scottish Government statisticians have advised that parliamentary question responses should only be based on information which has been validated or formally published. Official Clostridium difficile statistics, prepared by Health Protection Scotland (HPS) following validation, including laboratory testing, are published by HPS on a quarterly basis.

  The response to S3W-29776 refers to the web link where unvalidated hospital level infection data, published by NHS boards, can be found. For ease of reference this is:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/19529/statistics/Local.

Life Expectancy

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated healthy life expectancy is at (a) birth and (b) age 65 in each community health partnership area, also broken down by gender.

Shona Robison: The latest information on estimated healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth and age 65, for males and females, in each community health partnership (CHP) area is produced and published by Information Services Division Scotland on the Scottish Public Health Observatory website, in table 3 http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Populationdynamics/hle/hle_data/hle_chps.asp .

  Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated non-disabled healthy life expectancy is at (a) birth and (b) age 65 in each community health partnership area, also broken down by gender.

Shona Robison: Estimates of disability-free life expectancy (non-disabled healthy life expectancy) are not available for community health partnership areas but estimates for the whole of Scotland are available in table, page 78 in Health Statistics Quarterly no. 40, winter 2008, published by the Office for National Statistics http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ40-winter-2008.pdf .

  Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated healthy life expectancy is at (a) birth and (b) age 65 in each local authority area, also broken down by gender.

Shona Robison: Estimated healthy life expectancy (HLE) is not available for Scotland at local authority level. However (HLE) estimates split by age and sex for each community health partnership (CHP) within Scotland are available on the Scottish Public Health Observatory website as table 3 at:

  http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Populationdynamics/hle/hle_data/hle_chps.asp.

  and for NHS board areas at:

  http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ40-winter-2008.pdf.

  Twenty-nine of the 32 local authorities within Scotland have boundaries that are coterminous with CHPs; the remaining three (Glasgow, Highland and Fife) are similar to NHS boards.

  Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated non-disabled life expectancy is at (a) birth and (b) age 65 in each local authority area, also broken down by gender.

Shona Robison: Estimates of non-disabled life expectancy (disability-free life expectancy) are not available for local authority areas within Scotland, but estimates at birth and at age 65 for the country as a whole are available from table 1, page 78 in Health Statistics Quarterly no. 40, winter 2008 from the Office for National Statistics:

  http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ40-winter-2008.pdf.

Local Government

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of bills for local authority contracts was paid within (a) 30 and (b) 10 days in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority.

John Swinney: The information requested is not collected by the Scottish Government. However, local authorities are required to report their performance against a number of statutory performance indicators, including "the percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days". This information is collected annually by Audit Scotland and can be found on their website at http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/performance/index.php where the relevant statutory performance indicator is Indicator 7 under Corporate Management.

Local Government Finance

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-28310 by John Swinney on 16 November 2009, when an analysis of the reports from local authorities on the implementation of the 2008-09 single outcome agreements will be made available.

John Swinney: As I explained in response to Ms Lamont’s most recent question on this issue, councils and Community Planning Partnerships were asked to submit annual reports covering progress made towards 1st phase single outcome agreements in 2008-09 by end September. All 32 reports have been received and are available on the Local Government Improvement Service website at http://www.improvementservice.org.uk/library/577-single-outcome-agreements/666-phase-1-single-outcome-agreements-2008-2011/693-single-outcome-agreement-2008-09-reports/view-category/ .

  The Scottish Government is producing an overview commentary, which assembles some of the key messages from these annual reports. I expect that it should be published shortly.

  The answer to oral parliamentary question S3O-08884 on 17 December 2009 is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Mental Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to implement an NHS stress hotline, given the recent launch of a similar service in England.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government already funds the Breathing Space telephone advice and signposting service for people experiencing low mood, depression or anxiety. Available out of hours on 0800 83 85 87, this handles around 4,000 calls per month and has a website which provides advice on a range of mental health issues. www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk .

  The Scottish Government also provides core funding support to Samaritans who provide support to people in crisis by telephone and email.

  In addition, the Steps for Stress National Mental Health Improvement Campaign was launched by the Scottish Government in November 2009. It has two aims, to facilitate self recognition of stress, and to inform positive choices around how to reduce stress and improve mental wellbeing.

  Both a booklet and website (http://www.infoscotland.org.uk/stepsforstress/) are available, giving advice on differing subjects such as money worries, unemployment, problems at work, family and relationship difficulties, physical health problems, the pressure of being a carer, bad experiences in the past, and being discriminated against. Each topic gives practical advice, and has contact details and telephone numbers of organisations which give specialist advice.

Nursing

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to support the one year job guarantee scheme for nurses and midwives.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-31012 on 1 February 2010 which contains the data requested. NHS boards have been advised that funding continues to be available to support the One Year Job Guarantee scheme for nurses and midwives 2009-10. This is a demand led scheme and requests for funding are still being received from NHS boards.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

  Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwives are being supported by the one year job guarantee scheme for nurses and midwives and at what cost, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: To date, in financial year 2009-10, nine newly qualified midwives are being supported at a cost of £223,660. They have all been recruited by NHS Lanarkshire.

  Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many midwifery posts are being covered by bank midwives and at what cost, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally. However, information showing bank nursing and midwifery staff by NHS board is available at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/5685.html.

Poverty

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the Carstairs deprivation category is.

Shona Robison: The Carstairs Index is an area based measure of deprivation, which was developed by Vera Carstairs and Russell Morris, at Edinburgh University using data from the 1981 Census.

  The original Carstairs index was subdivided into seven categories with category 1 = most affluent and category 7 = the most deprived.

  The Carstairs index is generally not used by the NHS or by the Scottish Government to measure deprivation and the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is used instead.

  Further information is available here:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD.

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/3211.html.

Rail Network

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimated cost is of the replacement Inveramsay Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: We are working with Network Rail, in developing costed options.

  Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when construction work will begin on the replacement Inveramsay Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: All transport projects must pass through a series of statutory and design stages before they can proceed to the delivery stage.

  In the context of the replacement Inveramsay Bridge, this will involve consideration of its location and the likely disruption to the road and rail network during construction.

Rail Services

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30467 by Stewart Stevenson on 15 January 2010, on how many occasions in each month since 1997 for which information is available the rail franchise holder has been penalised for not providing planned capacity on the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk High route.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no exact monthly totals as rail accountancy is measured in 13 x four-weekly periods per fiscal year.

  Each Period there are approximately 3,170 trains operating between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Falkirk High. The reliability figure for the whole of this period is 98.2% trains operating to the correct formation.

  The following information is instances per accounting period since Transport Scotland took over the management of the franchise in October 2005. Transport Scotland does not hold the relevant records prior to October 2005.

  

 
4-Weekly Period 
Instances Per Period 


2005-06 
2006-07 
2007-08 
2008-09 
2009-10 


April 
1 
 
10 
13 
16 
45 


 
2 
 
12 
15 
17 
17 


 
3 
 
30 
9 
11 
45 


 
4 
 
44 
9 
27 
37 


 
5 
 
31 
10 
23 
19 


 
6 
 
25 
13 
20 
30 


 
7 
 
27 
17 
37 
26 


 
8 
28 
23 
11 
22 
23 


 
9 
20 
23 
12 
50 
23 


 
10 
42 
34 
16 
112 
191 


 
11 
12 
66 
12 
42 
 


 
12 
29 
45 
21 
53 
 


March 
13 
8 
9 
23 
33 
 



  Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30468 by Stewart Stevenson on 15 January 2010, on how many occasions in each month since 1997 for which information is available the rail franchise holder has been penalised for not providing planned capacity.

Stewart Stevenson: There are no exact monthly totals as rail accountancy is measured in 13 x four-weekly periods per fiscal year.

  Each Period there are approximately 55,000 trains operated by First ScotRail. The reliability figure for the whole of this period is 99.8% trains operating to the correct formation.

  The following information is instances per accounting period since Transport Scotland took over the management of the Franchise in October 2005. Transport Scotland does not hold the relevant records prior to October 2005.

  

 
4-Weekly Period 
Instances Per Period 


2005-06 
2006-07 
2007-08 
2008-09 
2009-10 


April 
1 
 
137 
117 
68 
109 


 
2 
 
149 
144 
86 
68 


 
3 
 
141 
102 
79 
122 


 
4 
 
174 
133 
85 
107 


 
5 
 
116 
99 
87 
51 


 
6 
 
97 
91 
82 
77 


 
7 
 
142 
114 
146 
65 


 
8 
402 
124 
120 
148 
65 


 
9 
344 
130 
100 
197 
69 


 
10 
456 
331 
214 
272 
401 


 
11 
179 
351 
179 
146 
 


 
12 
132 
295 
111 
176 
 


March 
13 
118 
155 
99 
87

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the practical impact would have been of a transfer to another budget line from the Routine and Winter Maintenance Level 3 budget of £10 million per annum during the recent period of severe weather.

Stewart Stevenson: A reduction in the Trunk Road and Motorway Routine and Winter Maintenance budget would have resulted in the level of funding made available to the Trunk Road Operating Companies being below that required to meet their commitments for winter maintenance and repairing defects and hazards.

School Meals

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidance issued to local authorities on extending entitlement to free school meals to all primary one to three pupils in deprived areas stipulates the level of deprivation.

Adam Ingram: COSLA are currently consulting with local authorities, exploring various ways that progress towards the P1-P3 free school meal commitment can be achieved in the context of making sufficient progress on reducing class sizes. Until I am fully appraised of the detailed responses from local authorities, no criteria will be stipulated.

  Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary one to three pupils in the 15% most deprived areas are entitled to free school meals.

Adam Ingram: Free school meal data collected in the annual Pupil Census survey counts those pupils who are entitled and registered for free school meals at the time of the census. Based on the 2009 Pupil Census, there are 11,500 primary one to three pupils in the 15% most deprived areas who are entitled and registered for free school meals.

  Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary one to three pupils in the 15% most deprived areas will be entitled to free school meals following the extension of such meals to pupils in deprived areas.

Adam Ingram: The details of an extension to existing free school meal provision are being discussed with COSLA in consultation with local authorities. Until these discussions have successfully concluded and a set of agreed criteria has been established it is not possible to identify the number of P1-P3 pupils who will be entitled.

Schools

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release of 28 September 2009, Building better schools , when the second tranche of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools will be announced.

Keith Brown: We are working with COSLA to identify the next schools to benefit from the new £1.25 billion school building programme and expect to make an announcement later this year.

  Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release of 28 September 2009, Building better schools, when the second tranche of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools will begin.

Keith Brown: The timescale for the second tranche of schools will be determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into account local circumstances.

Scottish Government

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which of its directorates were involved in the scripting and production of the Scotland’s Constitutional Timeline video.

Bruce Crawford: The scripting and production of Scotland’s Constitutional Timeline video was carried out by the Communications Directorate.

  George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its multimedia unit’s budget has been in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08, (c) 2008-09 and is in 2009-10.

John Swinney: The Video Production and Broadcasting Unit (formally known as the Multimedia Unit), holds a specifically allocated budget which includes production, operational and training costs. In the financial years requested this budget was as follows:

  

 
Budget Allocation 


2006-07 
£40,000.00 


2007-08 
£40,000.00 


2008-09 
£45,000.00 


2009-10 
£32,500.00 



  George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff are employed and on what salary scales in its multimedia unit.

John Swinney: Four members of staff work in the Scottish Government’s Video Production and Broadcasting Unit (formally known as the Multimedia Unit). There is one C1; two B2 and one B1 grade. The 2009 salary scales for these grades are given in the following table:

  

2009 
B1 
B2 
C1 


Max. -7 
 
 
 


Max. -6 
 
 
41,141 


Max. -5 
20,004 
24,171 
42,878 


Max. -4 
20,938 
25,272 
44,615 


Max. -3 
21,871 
26,372 
46,352 


Max. -2 
22,805 
27,473 
48,089 


Max. -1 
23,738 
28,573 
49,826 


Max. 
24,671 
29,673 
51,563

Scottish Government Procurement

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of bills for its contracts was paid within (a) 30 and (b) 10 days in each year since 2007.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government’s payment policy is that all suppliers’ invoices not in dispute are paid within the terms of the relevant contract. The Scottish Government aims to pay 100% of invoices, including disputed invoices once the dispute has been settled, on time within these terms. The Scottish Government’s audited annual consolidated accounts provide information on payment policy and performance measured against 30 days in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Additionally, as part of its plan for supporting economic recovery in Scotland, the First Minister announced on 9 October 2008 that the Scottish Government would aspire to a 10 day target for paying bills to businesses in Scotland and performance on this is also reported in the 2008-09 accounts.

  The published accounts for the financial years 2006-07 onwards are available at www.scotland.gov.uk at these links:

  2006-07

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/30102402/3.

  2007-08

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/09/29130020/3.

  2008-09

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/10/01085501/3.

  The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting business in the current economic climate by paying bills more quickly and since the announcement of the target on 9 October 2008, performance has risen significantly. For the current financial year, an average of 95% of bills were paid within 10 working days in the five months to December 2009 by the Scottish Government, executive agencies and other bodies who use our financial systems. (For those bodies with their own financial systems we do not hold information until the point when it is reported in annual accounts.)

Weather

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of preparations made by local authorities to deal with the recent adverse weather conditions.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment will be made of the adequacy of the response by local authorities to the recent adverse weather conditions.

Kenny MacAskill: It is for each local authority to manage its own winter preparations and to determine how best to meet its statutory duties during adverse weather conditions. We would expect local authorities to review their own planning and response activity.

  To support our councils and others, the Scottish Government has contacted resilience stakeholders across Scotland to identify lessons which may be learned and applied from the recent period of prolonged and at times extreme winter weather. The Cabinet Sub Committee for Scottish Government Resilience will consider the findings of this review to ensure that any lessons identified for the Scottish Government are learned and applied.

  The Scottish Salt Group also continues its winter weather work, which will also inform debrief and future planning activity of individual councils, trunk road operators and Scottish Government.

  Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact of the recent adverse weather conditions on the opencast mining industry.

Jim Mather: Scottish Government officials are in regular dialogue with coal producers in Scotland. Discussions have confirmed that the industry is coping well with the challenges brought about by the recent period of severe weather, with the main issue being around staff travelling to work. We will continue to work with stakeholders to monitor the situation.